>Old Dominion Brewing Company – Dominion Root Beer

Root Beer. It’s an American institution. It’s like cola but it has that extra sweetness that’s hard to resist. It’s cold. It’s refreshing. That slight carbonation dances on your tongue. Are you drooling yet? We are pretty well known for our lagers and ales…but our root beer is our unsung hero. So I dedicate this blog to you, Dominion Root Beer!

Oh, Dominion Root Beer…how I do love thee. But a lot of people don’t know where you came from and how you got to be as delicious as you are. I feel that is my duty. To find your origin, I had to go all the way back to 1876. That’s when a Philadelphia pharmacist named Charles Hires. Initially, he was trying to replicate a recipe for some herbal tea he had discovered while on his honeymoon. Somewhere along the way, it evolved into what we now call root beer. When Hires introduced his creation to the public, it was an instant hit! This new beverage style spread like wildfire and other root beer companies began to pop up.

The world’s most famous root beer brand, A&W, founded in 1919, was the first to take root beer global. They were also the first to put it in cans which made it even easier to spread root beer joy to the masses.

Dominion Root Beer was first introduced in 1994. We looked back at our American predecessors for inspiration and concocted our own delicious recipe based on old recipes we found at the Library of Congress.

Our root beer quickly became a regional favorite! Nowadays, you can find it at many area locations on draught and in bottles. So next time you make that Dominion Root Beer float, remember the long journey it took for it to get there!